Valduggery: Drabbles, One-shots, Short stories
by KriticalError
Summary: Valduggery drabbles, one-shots and short stories, mostly set after The Dying Of The Light, so be wary of spoilers. Possibly some Ghanith. Decided to change it from a single short story, to many short stories - Figured it might be easier that way.
1. Valduggery: The Truth Part 1

**So hey guys! this is my first ever fan-fic, *and* the first thing I've written that I've ever posted online! Please review! Just please remember I'm new, so be gentle! ;)**

 **This is called; Valduggery: The Truth Part 1**

 **Edit: Updated to match TDoTL There *may* be spoilers. So be warned.  
Takes place after her 5 year isolation, and two and a half weeks after she's been back in Ireland. Also, I just couldn't stand Ghastly being dead, so let's just pretend that he's still alive..."**

* * *

This, was exactly how she'd liked to spend her evening's. Dressed in tight, black leather. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, the chill of the icy Irish air stinging her exposed skin. To any normal person, this one night would be the adventure of a lifetime. But for Valkyrie Cain, this was something of a regularity. After having spent the last five years punishing herself in isolation, coming to terms with all she'd done, finding out who she was now. She'd finally returned, and as expected - it was straight back to work.  
"Have you seen anything yet?" Her voice a loud whisper.  
"Not a thing." Skulduggery growled, a short distance ahead.  
Skulduggery Pleasant was a calm, sophisticated man but tonight he seemed a little worse for ware, distant and somewhat irritated. This was something Valkyrie had noticed, and had been playing on her mind since they'd met that morning. It had been so long since they'd seen one another, but he'd never been like this before - and that meant that there was something to worry about. She was thinking of how best to bring this up, when he glanced back at her. She flushed.  
"DUCK!"  
Startled, she dropped to her belly just in time to hear a loud snarl and watched as Skulduggery hurled several balls of fire right into Dusk's face. As he stumbled, Valkyrie felt the energy crackle between her fingers and pushed hard, sending white lightning forward and knocking the vampire over and giving her the chance to get to her feet quickly, just as four of his infected joined his side.  
"Perfect" She muttered. "What's the plan?"  
"Well. The way I see it we have two options here..." Dusk and his infected were circling them now, growling and snarling as they moved around them.  
"Being?"  
"One, we fight our way through freshly infected vampires at their full strength with total disregard for our lives."  
"Or two..?"  
"Or two, we run."  
"I have a hard time believing we'll be able to run _without_ having to fight our way through them first."  
"Very true."  
"So we fight."  
"We fight."

As Skulduggery said this, one of the infected lunged towards him. But Valkyrie was too quick and the infected jumped right into a stream of her lightning. At this the other infected seemed to fall into an intense state of rage, throwing themselves at the pair again and again as Dusk watched contently, leaning against a wall.  
Skulduggery was throwing flames one after the other and knocking back more infected with strong jets of air, whilst Valkyrie was locked in hand to hand combat with the tallest of the bunch. She didn't usually have much trouble with close combat, but in this circumstance she'd seriously underestimated her opponent. This guy wasn't just tall, he was _built_. She'd guessed before he'd been infected he was some kind of weight lifter. Swing, after swing, after swing at intense speed and he wasn't tiring. Suddenly one of the three Skulduggery was fending off changed targets and raked it's claws across her back, she let out a cry - God she wished she'd worn the jacket Ghastly had made for her that night, the claws would have barely left a scratch on that material.  
She pushed through the physical pain, and stood angled between her two opponents shooting waves of energy in both directions, she had a feeling this fight was _not_ going their way - When she noticed the ocean, and groaned at how stupid they'd been.  
"Skulduggery?" She yelled over the snarls of the infected.  
"What?"  
"Ocean!"  
Together they both made a sprint for the pier, but Dusk had heard their yells and leapt onto Valkyrie before she'd even made it a meter in the right direction. Skulduggery kept running, leading the infected towards the ocean - with any luck they'd be far enough into the infection that the salt water would be enough to hurt them. Nearly there, he could hear Valkyrie's cries and fought with himself not to turn back, just a few more feet and he could be back by her side and fighting. He crashed into the ocean, the infected following close behind. As the first hit the water, a deafening screech broke out followed by three more splashes and three more deafening screeches. He watched briefly as the four infected thrashed; drowning, melting, screeching, dying. Then felt the air shift between his gloved hands, and pushed himself upwards.

Meanwhile, Valkyrie was back on her feet. She'd managed to push Dusk off of her whilst he was distracted by the screaming of his allies, she was able to fight back now. Though the large slash wounds on her back were bleeding quite extensively, and she could sense the hunger in the way Dusk was moving - Not to mention the drool. He lunged, Valkyrie responded with a swift kick to his ribs and he staggered only to be met with a punch to the jaw from the other side. As she went to punch again, he grabbed her arm, twisted, and 'crack'. As her forearm shattered she yelped in pain, and he pushed her to the ground, snarling. His claws slashed across her chest as he lent down and ripped a large chunk of flesh from her neck. She cried out again and pushed a wave of energy into his stomach knocking him away just as Skulduggery landed beside her.  
Skulduggery sent several balls of fire in Dusk's direction, hitting him squarely in the chest.  
He looked down to see Valkyrie had passed out, a pool of blood quickly developing on the ground beneath her. He Picked her up, threw fire towards Dusk a few more times, and flew up into the night.

It was early afternoon when Valkyrie finally woke up, she stretched out in bed and winced as her wounds stretched with her.  
"Urgh."  
"Good morning." Came the low, velvety smooth tones of Skulduggery's voice.  
Startled, Valkyrie scrambled under the sheets trying to hide herself and blushing violently. "What are you doing in here?" She said in a hushed, embarrassed tone.  
"Should I not be in my house?"  
"What?"  
"You're in my house."  
She peered over the top of the sheets and looked around the room. He was right, this was his house. She was convinced that she was at Gordon's, in her own bed.  
"You seem confused."  
"I thought I was at the mansion..." She said slowly.  
"Ah. That, you are not." Skulduggery said simply. It bothered him that she didn't think of his house as 'home', she'd only been to the mansion twice in the nearly three weeks she'd been back - She may as well be living with _him_.  
Valkyrie raised a hand to her head and ruffled her hair, looking around the room. "I have a headache."  
"I expect you do. You fainted last night. Not to mention the injuries." He gestured in her direction.  
As she looked down at herself, she noticed just how damaged she really was, half healed wounds across her chest, her arm purple, her neck and back throbbing intensely.  
"I fixed you for the most part, the pain your feel now is just bruising and skin reconstruction. Chew on this." He handed her a few leaves. "This should take away the rest of the pain."  
As she chewed, her pain began to melt away and she slowly became more relaxed.  
Skulduggery stood. "I need to get back to the Sanctuary."  
"Huh?"  
"We need to find out why Dusk was after us last night, he's still meant to be on our side."  
"I'll come with you-"  
"No, you need to stay here and rest."  
"Skulduggery, I'm fine. I'm coming with you." She argued  
"No. You're not." He stated seriously.  
"Fine. Then you can at least stay here with me. We can figure out what Dusk's deal is tomorrow - You know, as a team?"  
"This really isn't something we can delay-"  
"Fine."  
Skulduggery faltered and sat back down in his chair, and they were silent for a good ten minutes until Valkyrie broke it with;  
"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"  
"I'm sorry?" Skulduggery asked slowly.  
"You've been avoiding me since I got back, especially yesterday."  
"I've seen you every day."  
"I don't mean like that. I mean we used to talk, we laughed, we'd had fun in between all the work stuff. I know I've been gone for five years- but you phoned me at least twice a week during that time, and you said you understood why I needed to be away from all this, we kept in touch. I didn't think it would be this hard for us to be around each other - and now you want to leave me behind to go to the Sanctuary on your own. I didn't notice it as much at the start, but I was speaking to Tanith a few days ago and she mentioned how 'off' you'd been in passing, and it just... Clicked."  
"I can't say I've noticed-"  
"Well we have."  
"It seems so, yes."  
There was a pause, in which she looked at him and he didn't return the favor. "Is it something I've done? Are you mad at me?"  
Skulduggery chuckled " No, it's nothing you have done."  
She rolled her eyes and sat up in the bed properly. "Well what is it then? I know we've both kept secrets from one another in the past, but I thought we were past this - You don't even have to outright tell me, just a clue would be enough." She sounded frustrated now.  
Skulduggery tilted his head and looked up at her, he had no eyes of course - being a skeleton. But he had this way of 'looking' that she could just read. He sighed, and for a second Valkyrie thought she felt his gaze lower to her chest, but she soon shrugged this off as a trick of the light - or if his concentration _did_ shift, he was likely just going over the remaining marks of last nights injuries.  
"There's nothing wrong."  
"You're lying. Skulduggery please, just give me _something_!"  
"Take my word for it, you don't want to know." And with that, he got up to leave again.  
Valkyrie raised her voice "Stop avoiding this! You're making it really hard for me not to punch you right now."  
"I'm not avoiding, I'm simply not telling."  
"I swear to god Skulduggery - " She breathed through gritted teeth.  
Skulduggery interrupted her; "I'm not telling you because there's no point in telling you. Nothing could be done."  
"Just tell me, please. I can't stand the awkwardness we've had, I just want us to go back to how we were. I know that will take time, but..."  
"It's nothing you've _done._ Can we just leave it at that?"  
"Skulduggery - "  
He let out a large sigh, "This conversation is over now." And he left the room.  
Valkyrie huffed, laid back down, turned her back to the door, and fell asleep angry.

Skulduggery slumped in an armchair in the corner of his living room, allowing his skull to droop slightly, and he began to meditate; hearing nothing but the rain on the windows and the ticking of his pocket watch. As he wondered the paths of his mind, he thought about the events of last night, how they'd been intended to go, and how they'd ended. He hated seeing Valkyrie in pain, though it seemed that was just how their lives were meant to play out; They saved the world more times that he could count. He continued to meditate for a few minutes or maybe it was hours trying to clear his thoughts, they always returned to _her_. Skulduggery awoke from his meditation grudgingly, got up from his chair and walked to the kitchen to make some tea. A few moments later he was sat on the bed beside Valkyrie, tea in hand. As he turned his head to look at her he noticed the still healing wounds on her back, red raw and visible to him now; He remembered how they stretched from the top of her shoulder, right down to her hip and he felt his heart sink. He placed the teacup down on the bedside table, and reached out a gloved hand running it lightly over the harsh lines etched into her pale skin.  
"I'm sorry." He muttered softly.  
There was a moment where she stirred, only to wince, readjust and fall back to sleep. Skulduggery sighed, and leaned down to brush the hair from her face when he felt her phone vibrate a few centimeters from his other hand. Without thinking he glanced at the name lit up on the screen;

 _ **Tanith** **xxx** **: ' Sounds tough Val', you already know what I think though...'**_

He picked up the phone, placed it on the table beside the tea he'd brought in and pondered to himself.  
 _'Know what she thinks about what? Obviously something about their "fight" earlier, but what?'  
_ He was always so clueless when it came to Valkyrie and Tanith. Just as he began to ponder further what this text message was about, he received one of his own, this time from Ghastly.

 _ **Ghastly Bespoke: 'I don't know what's happened, but Tanith seems**_

 _ **intent on me asking you about it...'**_

Skulduggery got up and walked quietly into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind him and calling Ghastly.  
"What is it?" Ghastly asked in his usual husky voice.  
"We are, close friends?"  
"I'd like to think so."  
"So you can usually tell if I'm behaving... Irregularly?"  
"I can."  
"And have I?"  
There was a short pause.  
"I wouldn't say... Irregularly."  
"What _would_ you say?"  
"I would say I've known you long enough to be able to tell how you feel about people."  
"And..?" Skulduggery said slowly.  
"And I'd say you've probably had some sort of strong emotion towards Valkyrie for a very long time now."  
"What makes you think that?"  
"The closeness -"  
"We're partners." Skulduggery interrupted.  
"The protectiveness - "  
"I've known her since she was twelve, of course I'll be protective of her."  
"The physical contact, the way you look at her, the way you worry; and most recently, the general avoidance of her." Ghastly said quickly, getting irritated by the interruptions.  
"Ah."  
"Ah." Repeated Ghastly. There was another pause. "I think you've had feelings for her for quite some time now, and I think you haven't realized how extensive they were until recently, and I don't think you know how to handle it." Ghastly sounded serious now. "When I lost Tanith to the Remnant, the pain was unbearable - I wished I'd said something to her about how I felt sooner. Now I have her back, I treasure every moment. Maybe that, is something to consider."  
"It is." Skulduggery said coolly. And with that, ghastly hung up the phone.

* * *

 _ **So That's the first little bit up! I'll be updating as and when! Let me know what you think! :D**_


	2. Valduggery: The Truth Part 2

**This is part two of Valduggery: The Truth.  
I'm not going to lie, I thought this story would come out a little better than it has - I can only pin that on maybe the fact that I haven't written anything since I left high school four years ago or so? So hopefully this little two part-er will be my warm up, and it'll get better from here on out! - Fingers crossed-  
anyway! this part is a bit shorter than the last, but I hope you guys like it regardless. And The next thing I post will probably be a new Valduggery story entirely! :D**

* * *

Skulduggery sighed, and thought to himself for a moment before quietly re-entering the bedroom to find Valkyrie sat up in bed - Tea in one hand and phone in the other, texting. She looked up, trying not to show any emotion and failing miserably. It was obvious she'd been crying, and the redness creeping it's way to her cheeks also proved hard to ignore. Skulduggery slowly made his way over to the bed and sat beside her. The silence was deafening.  
"I thought you'd left for the Sanctuary." Valkyrie said quietly.  
"You seemed pretty insistent that I stay."  
Valkyrie's face seemed to redden further, and Skulduggery's head tilted. They looked at each other in silence for the longest time before her phone vibrated in her hands.

 _ **Tanith xxx: 'Let me know how it goes ASAP!'**_

She flushed, and did her best to look anywhere but at Skulduggery. Then she felt something cold press against her forehead, and she looked up confused.  
"You're burning up. Are you feeling alright?" He asked, removing his hand from her head.  
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." She took a long sip of tea and tried to relax.  
Skulduggery stared at her with empty eye sockets, a hand rested on her knee.  
"Sorry if I've seemed... Distant." he said softly.  
"It's okay... I knew things wouldn't be the same as they used to be. I just figured it'd be easier than this. I thought after a few days of re-adjusting things would just fall back into place." She smiled sadly. "I guess my detective skills were a little off the mark. Must be out of practice." She chuckled.  
Skulduggery squeezed her knee reassuringly. "It's not you, it's me."  
"Did you really just say that?" She grinned, trying not to laugh.  
"Apparently." The smile in his voice, clear and warm.  
"Never do that again."  
"I can honestly say I won't."  
"Because if you do I might just die laughing." She grinned at him. "See, this is what I'm talking about. I miss the jokes, the wit, that ego!"  
Skulduggery nodded his head towards the phone in her hand. "So who text you?" He asked curiously, changing the topic. The truth was eating away at him now, he was so close to telling her everything.  
"Just Tanith. Something about needing a girls night out?" She said a little too nonchalantly.  
"Ah, yes. Her and Ghastly have been nigh inseparable lately."  
"Yeah, it was about time he told her how he felt. It was just so obvious. It was the tension that always got me."  
Skulduggery paused and adjusted his hat, angling it perfectly on his skull. "They did certainly take their time."  
Another pause.  
"I missed you." He muttered softly.  
"I - missed you too." Valkyrie stuttered.  
"When you left - I understood. I went through the same with Vile. You needed to punish yourself -"  
"- But punishing myself was the easy way out, it's redemption that's the hard part. I know. That's why I decided to come back. I was ready." She interrupted.  
"You'd been through so much."  
"Everyone had. I put everyone through that. Not some other entity. Darquesse is... Was me."  
"That's exactly what I had to come to terms with when it came to Vile."  
Valkyrie smirked lightly. "Well aren't we just two pea's in a pod!"  
Skulduggery squeezed her knee again gently, and after a long pause he spoke again;

"What do you remember about the battle with Darquesse, about the day you left?" he queried tentatively.  
"Everything."  
"And the Accelerator?"  
"Everything. The internal bleeding, your crest - "  
She paused and Skulduggery took a breath. "- 12 minutes until overloading, fighting over volunteering, your clarification over rules with the Engineer, me begging... You kissed my cheek - hugged me, gave me your hat... And I said 'I love you.' and you turned away... And then you threw Ravel into the Accelerator" She paused. "- And then you made fun of me."  
"Well that's... Accurate."  
"It was a pretty important day in my life. I'd be worried if I didn't remember every detail, I've had five years to dwell on it after all."  
"You have."  
"Why'd you ask?"  
"I remember it too, vividly. I've gone over it again and again in my head ever since you left."  
"Oh?"  
"You said; 'I love you.' "  
"I did. You made fun of me."  
"I did." He paused. "I shouldn't have."  
"Skulduggery?"  
"I should have said that I loved you too."  
Valkyrie's face turned crimson and she stayed silent, her heart pounding against her rib cage so loudly she was sure Skulduggery could hear it. Did he really just say that? After all this time? Why not - Her phone vibrated, interrupting her thoughts;

 _ **Tanith xxx: 'Val! Any news? Text me! I'M DYING HERE! ;D'**_

"Tanith again." Valkyrie smirked awkwardly.  
Skulduggery stood. "Ah. Perhaps I should let you get back to her - Would you like another tea?"  
Valkyrie grabbed a hold of his wrist. "Stay..." She muttered quietly. Skulduggery looked at her with empty eye-sockets and slowly sat back down, obligingly.  
"Why now? Why not then? Why not over the phone? Why not when I phoned you to come get me?"  
"Because you brought it up. I couldn't have said anything at the time because... You'd just been through hell. Why not over the phone? That's not the thing to discuss over a phone call. Why not when I arrived at your door to bring you back home? I couldn't bring myself to say it after so long. To a certain extent I'd forgotten exactly what it was that I felt for you. I knew I loved you. I've known for a long time. But it's wrong, Valkyrie. I shouldn't, It's wrong. I'm dead, I'm a skeleton, I'm over 400 years old. It's wrong."  
Valkyrie shifted closer to him on the bed, and leant forward gently pressing her lips to his cheek bone. Skulduggery became very still, tensing at the sensation of her warm lips against his cold bone.  
"Valkyrie, this is wro-"  
"Shut up." She muttered, pulling him into a close embrace and nuzzling her head beneath his jaw bone. Skulduggery hesitated before wrapping an arm around her waist, resting his skull on top of her head and sighing deeply.

* * *

 **The end! ~ Thanks for reading! I love you all! :D**


	3. Valduggery: TDoTL Epilogue Part 1

**EDIT: I've now had to edit this twice -.-" The first time round I got locked out, so hopefully I haven't missed anything, and hopefully all my changes are changed. It's nothing big, just edits to words, word order, grammar, etc. Also I just wanted to let you guys know, I'm starting work on part 2! :)**

 **Hey guys, Krit' here! This is my new short story, taking place directly after the events of Chapter 106 in The Dying Of The Light. So expect spoilers right from the beginning - The first paragraph, along with anything else in** _Italics_ **is a direct quote from the end of Chapter 106 or from the book as a whole. Obvious disclaimers there, all credit to Derek Landy for that and his characters/universe/book world are allllllll his. I'm hoping to make this feel as canon as possible, so sorry if there's any OOC moments - I'm trying SUPER hard. I might carry this on for a little while... Might re-write the first thing I uploaded to make it feel better too ahaha.**

* * *

 _Skulduggery put his hands on her shoulders. "Valkyrie trust me on this one thing, and step out of my way. I have to do this."_  
 _She looked up at him. "I don't want you to leave me."_  
 _"And I never will."_  
 _"You said we'd be together until the end."_  
 _He nodded."Yes I did."_  
 _A face flowed up over his skull, an unremarkable face with unremarkable features. He leaned in and softly kissed her cheek. The face flowed away; He hugged her then peeled her arms from around his neck, took off his hat and put it on her head. He spent a moment angling it just right. "There." He said, "Looks good on you."_  
 _She couldn't speak as he stepped round her. He walked up to the Accelerator, the Engineer watched him impassively. Ravel looked away._  
 _"I love you," Valkyrie blurted out._  
 _Skulduggery didn't look back._

She closed her eyes tightly as tears continued to fall from her lashes. A bright light filled the room, blinding from behind her eyelids - and then silence fell, and it was as if nothing in the world mattered to her anymore, nothing had meaning or substance.  
She was cold, and she was numb, and hesitantly she opened her eyes.  
There in front of her, in a light haze of dust, was Skulduggery - Head held high, and looking as smug as ever. Ravel, was nowhere to be seen.  
He turned on his heel to face the Engineer, "A soul willingly given. No further stipulations?"  
"None." Came the robotic voice.  
"Then there was nothing to say that the soul willingly given, had to be my own."  
The Engineer paused to process this, then shrugged; _"You make a fair point." And it allowed the soul to shut down the Accelerator._  
Silence. Ear splitting, deafening, soul shattering silence.  
Skulduggery turned to face Valkyrie, and for a moment all she could do was stare at him with wide eyes. This however, did not last long - and her stare quickly became a furious scowl.  
"I _hate_ you," She said sternly.  
"No you don't," She could hear the smirk in his tone, could practically _see_ the grin spreading across his faceless skull.  
"I don't think I've ever hated anyone this much in my entire life."  
"I _did_ say you were making a fuss over nothing."  
"I seriously bloody hate you, Skulduggery."  
"I have reason to believe other wise."  
She glared at him, "Are you insane?" She was fighting the urge to punch him again now. "I thought I was going to lose you for God's sake!"  
"I _also_ said you would never lose me; you can hug me now if you like."  
Valkyrie scoffed, and watched, with a confused expression on her face as everything around her began to fade and blur at the edges and she felt herself falling. The silhouette of Skulduggery darting towards her was the last thing she saw.

When she woke up a few moments later in his arms, her head resting painfully against the sharpness of his collarbone, he was carrying her carefully down the corridors of the Sanctuary. She groaned, and Skulduggery looked down at her.  
"Hi," She croaked.  
"Hello."  
"I still hate you,"  
"I am aware."  
There was a pause in which Valkyrie opened her mouth as if to say something, but then hesitated, and closed it again before continuing with;  
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure my insides are still bleeding..." She coughed, and blood trickled from the corners of her lips, she wiped it away with her sleeve.  
"They are - I'm taking you to Synecdoche now," He muttered softly. The warmth of his deep, velvet voice spilled over Valkyrie like a wave, and she felt herself shiver and relax; she hadn't realised how tense she was, but then given the circumstances it would have been unnerving if she wasn't.  
A moment passed,  
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to use Ravel?"  
"I did wonder how long it would take you to bring that up,"  
"So, why didn't you?"  
"In case you've forgotten, we didn't exactly have much time."  
"The sparrow flies south for winter. You could've used that."  
"Ravel was already aware of our... 'Code'. That would have tipped him off."  
"But we had nine minutes. You couldn't have come up with something else in nine minutes?"  
"Watching you panic was a lot more amusing -"  
She slapped a hand to his ribs lightly, "You're horrible."  
"On the contrary, I'm quite the gentleman."  
"A gentleman wouldn't have made his partner think he was about to die," She glared up at him.  
"Valkyrie, I'm already dead," He paused, "Besides, _a world without me in it, would scarcely be worth living in."  
_ She hit him again, "Goon."  
"One day you will realise that I _always_ have a plan." And he took his hat from her head, taking his time to angle it perfectly on his skull before rounding a corner and entering the medical bay .

Debris and rubble littered the polished floor, as well as some of the beds; and there was a sizeable hole in one of the walls. The air was thick with tension, and hard to breath in. The only sounds to be heard were pained cries and groans of agony or loss, the most unsettling points were the brief periods when there was no noise at all. Valkyrie could almost _feel_ the eyes on her as she became aware that almost every person there was glaring at her with an intense rage. She shuddered as she imagined their eyeballs floating towards her through the air, latching themselves onto her, and slowly sliding from her skin and slapping wetly to the ground. The thought made her gag, and cough, and again blood trickled down her chin from the corners of her lips. Skulduggery paused, brought a gloved hand to her chin and wiped away the blood gently.  
"Thank you," She mumbled hoarsely.  
He shrugged in a way that she understood as; "Don't mention it", and they finally came to a vacant bed at the far end of the medical bay. As he set her down gently she looked up into his empty sockets and she sighed gently, her breath rattling.  
"I meant what I said, you know..."  
"I know you did," Skulduggery replied smoothly, "And I meant what I said."  
Valkyrie's brow furrowed "... You didn't say anything."  
"Didn't I? My mistake."  
She sighed faintly, "And you're not _going_ to say anything, are you?"  
He tilted his head "Of course not, I have a reputation to maintain."  
"Typical," She breathed.  
Valkyrie lifted her head and glanced around the room, taking note of just how many people were looking at her, disgusted or pained. She groaned to herself and sighed, resting her head back down.  
"I really have to leave..."  
"Synecdoche hasn't seen to your injuries yet,"  
Her eyes rolled, "Not like, _now_. I mean soon; Probably tomorrow, or in a day or so." She winced, "I can't stay here, I have to get away from all this. The staring, the glares, the damage Darque- _I_ did... The things I've done, what I did to..." and her voice cracked, and tears started to roll from her eyes again.  
"I know," came Skulduggery's dulcet tones, "I understand, Valkyrie. I went through the same..." He muttered.  
"If anyone would, I knew it'd be you," minutes passed. "The explosion - Vile. How _did_ you manage to come back?" Valkyrie asked under her breath.  
He paused, and tilted his head, "I thought of everything that I would lose, if I didn't."  
The warmth of his voice washed over Valkyrie in a wave like it had done earlier, she smiled softly at Skulduggery, and moved her hand to his before slipping quietly into sleep.

* * *

By the time Valkyrie woke up the next day, most of the other patients in the ward had been treated and allowed home - Not that the majority had homes to go back to anymore, Darquesse had seen to that. It was quieter now though, and there were fewer angry eyes aimed in her direction.  
As expected, when she'd opened her eyes Skulduggery was at her bedside; along with Tanith, Valkyrie's parents, and baby Alice. Her mum and dad the first up of course, worrying and fussing over her unnecessarily; Synecdoche had done a brilliant job as always, and Valkyrie was practically as good as new if you excuse the emotional trauma and slight bruising.  
It took about an hour for Valkyrie to finally calm her parents down, and about twice as long for her to try to explain that she had to leave everyone and everything behind her for a while.  
There was a lot of crying, raised voices, silence, and overall tension that Valkyrie _really_ could have done without; But it was necessary. She hated the idea of leaving her parents and Alice behind, even more so now that they knew of the world she'd chosen to be a part of; It had only been a few days since they'd even found out about magic - She just couldn't bare the thought of being around Alice. She loved her little sister, she loved her more than words could say. But after what she'd done, even though _now_ Alice was alive, happy and healthy - she just couldn't stand the pain; It was selfish.  
Valkyrie was selfish, just as the Reflection said she was.

Eventually at about four in the afternoon, her parents left with Alice. They, unlike Skulduggery and Tanith hadn't seemed to notice how determined Valkyrie was not to look at her little sister; and as soon as they left, Valkyrie's eyes began to water.  
"Oh Val," Tanith muttered softly, " It'll all be okay, I promise you. I know it's going to be hard; but Skulduggery and I - We can help. We'll do anything we can, right?" She turned her head to Skulduggery hopefully.  
He tilted his head, before nodding slowly. "We can. This is however, Valkyrie's choice. If she feels she needs to be away from us - from magic, then that's what she needs to do. The wound Darquesse made is still fresh, and I imagine it will remain so for some time -"  
"- I was attacked," Valkyrie interrupted, "after the explosion, I was trying to find my way to the Sanctuary, when I was attacked by other Sorcerer's - that's when Tanith found me. They thought I was Darquesse, when I told them I wasn't; It didn't matter. I _am_ Darquesse. Darquesse is _me_. They were right to attack me, I deserved it. We weren't originally two different entities."  
Tanith frowned, "Val..."  
" _Punishment isn't the answer Valkyrie, punishment is easy. It's redemption that's hard, redemption makes you work, to become... Something more."_ Skulduggery answered.  
"I know," Valkyrie breathed." I know... I just think it's best for everyone for me to stay isolated for a while. Wait until everything's calmed down; I need to figure out who I am now that Darquesse is gone. I-" She paused to think for a moment. "-Honestly, I think I need both. I think I need to punish myself before I can even consider redemption. I have _killed_ people. _Me_. I'm Darquesse. Or I _was_ ; I don't know what I am anymore."  
Tanith pulled Valkyrie into a tight hug, and didn't let go for at least five minutes. In a way she never wanted to; despite all those years Tanith's Remnant had been teasing and goading her into becoming Darquesse. She missed her big sister, and now she had to say goodbye all over again.  
"I'll tell you what you are, Val'. You're a good person, and I'm going to miss you loads, "Tanith croaked, as she squeezed Valkyrie tighter and began to whisper, "I understand though, and I think you're right. I might have to leave too; I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly getting a welcome home party either!"  
They shared a gentle smile each, hugged again for good measure, and then Tanith left.

Valkyrie sighed gently as she slid out from her bed, and reached for her clothes and boots. It was as she was getting dressed that she realised how little Skulduggery had actually said since she'd woken up. There was a strange tension in the air, but she couldn't quite place it; it was different from the tension that accumulated from many glaring faces. She sat back down on the bed and begun tugging on her boots, when she felt his eyeless gaze on her, she looked up at him, and she tilted her head in the same enquiring way he always did. Skulduggery's head tilted in the opposite direction, and Valkyrie smirked.  
"You've been quiet," she said, nudging his polished shoes with a scuffed, muddy boot.  
"I'd just had those cleaned," Skulduggery winced.  
"They're fine, I barely touched them!"  
"I'll have to get a new pair now, you've ruined them."  
Valkyrie rolled her eyes, "Any excuse to buy yourself a new suit,"  
"Who needs an excuse when I look this handsome?"  
"You've avoided my question."  
"What question would that be?"  
"You've been quiet," She repeated.  
"That, is not a question."  
"Okay, You've avoided my... Statement."  
"I have."  
"Why?"  
"No particular reason."  
Valkyrie sighed. She'd been doing that a lot lately, she was beginning to think she might starve others of oxygen at this rate. _"You're going to miss me, aren't you?"_  
 _"Obviously," said Skulduggery._  
"I'll miss you too," she said quietly.  
They looked at each other for what felt like a lifetime, before he took a step forward and hugged her tightly. He was cold and bony, but when she let her head rest against his sternum, none of that mattered.  
"Until the end?" Valkyrie breathed.  
A face flowed into existence over his skull, enveloping his square jaw with light stubble; hugging his high, defined cheekbones with pale skin. Shoulder length, dark, messy hair grew from beneath his hat. Green, piercing, yet unfocused eyes took the place of his empty eye sockets.  
And he kissed her.  
"Until the end," mumbled Skulduggery.

* * *

 **So that's part one of this (hopefully a lot more accurate) epilogue type story!**

 **Let me know what you all think, I worked super hard on trying to get this somewhat true to characters!  
I was thinking of continuing this, but only if you guys want me to - Otherwise I'd be wasting my time! Hehe!  
The next part to this was going to be; "What happened after Skulduggery arrives at her house in America" And (hopefully) will have a lot more Valduggery in it, this first part was mostly implied Valduggery.  
**

 **Anyway, let me know! :D 3 xxxxx**


End file.
